The Hoops boss has been under fire due to his side’s stuttering displays in Europe.

Celtic posted £3.5million losses after missing out on the Champions League twice on the Norwegian’s watch – while the club’s Europa League hopes are hanging by a thread.

But Lawwell insists Deila is the right man to take Celtic forward and tipped him to emulate – or even better – the achievements of former boss Neil Lennon.

Speaking at the club’s agm, Lawwell said: “He is a young manager. We hired him on the basis of a lot of fundamental qualities he has got. He is a developer, he is a builder, he is a creator of players and teams. That takes time.

Lawwell highlighted Lennon’s early struggles with Celtic before turning them into a major force.

Celtic were 3-0 down to Kilmarnock and 10 points behind Rangers in the league in October 2011 – but salvaged a draw and went on to win the title.

The class of 2012 beat Barcelona and reached the last 16 of the Champions League and Lawwell insisted Deila could go on to match – or even surpass – Lennon’s exploits.

He said: “In 2010-11 we were out of Europe after losing to Braga and Utrecht. Lenny went on to be a huge success, delivering three in a row and Champions League football.

“We tend to look after our people here at Celtic and we look after the managers in particular and give them time to progress.

“You can see the results in the league and the cups last year and the position we are in domestically this year. You can see there has been an improvement in our players.

“Virgil van Dijk last year improved, Jason Denayer improved under Ronny, Nir Bitton unquestionably has improved, Leigh Griffiths has and we are now seeing young Keiran Tierney coming through. These are products of Ronny’s development and coaching. We need more of that and I’m sure we’ll get more of that.”

Celtic manager Ronny Deila (Image: SNS)

Deila was thrilled with the public display of affection from his boss .

He said: “It’s always important to hear but it was not a big surprise as I talk to him every day.

“It’s nice to hear in public and important for the fans as well.

“I know other managers have had backing after struggling at the start. They have been allowed to do their own jobs and build their own team. That gives me confidence.

“I don’t get stressed about it because I know the people understand we are building something.

“They are supportive of the process and everyone believes in what we are doing at Lennoxtown.”

Deila is refusing to concede defeat in the current Euro campaign – despite the odds piled against his side with Ajax and Fenerbahce to come.

But he’s convinced Celtic are not far off a return to the days of going up against the big guns.

Deila added: “My dream is the same as on the first day. I want to play against a big team here, control the game and win.

“I want to have that feeling we had in the first 30 minutes against Malmo when the whole stadium was rocking.

“We still have a chance now in the Europa League in these last two games. We are not out yet.

If we win our last two games we will be through. It would be an unbelievable turnaround. That’s what we are aiming to do.”